Follow David Thompson down the Columbia River at the next meeting of the Sunshine Coast Natural History Society.
At the Feb. 1 meeting at the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre in Sechelt, Robert Allen will give an illustrated presentation of a long canoe journey following generally the path used by Thompson, in travelling along the Columbia River from South Eastern B.C. to the Pacific Ocean in Astoria, Oregon.
The modern voyageurs, using eight eight-metre long canoes with six paddlers each, started their journey from the Fairmont Hot Springs area, travelled south to Thompson Falls, Mo., across Idaho to Kettle Falls, Wash., and then followed the Columbia River across Washington, all the way down to the Pacific Ocean in Astoria, Ore.
It was a six-week journey covering approximately 1,600 km (1,000 miles), with the journey ending on July 15, 2011, which was 200 years to the day that Thompson first reached the Pacific Ocean, in 1811.
Allen was born in Comox, went to school in Courtenay and then studied surveying at BCIT until 1967. After apprenticing with the B.C. Dept of Highways, he became a licensed British Columbia land surveyor and Canada land surveyor.
He has run a surveying business on the Sunshine Coast since 1972. Recently retired, his interests are now centred mostly on travelling and participating in both the B.C. and Canadian Surveying Associations' affairs.
The meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. New members are always welcome.
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